EDA project officer Vassilis Tsiamis defined dual use technologies as “technologies that are primarily useful in the civil sector but at the same time these technologies are important for the military too”. He went on to tell the Parliament Magazine that “dual use research involves key enabling technologies”. These include electronics components, nanotechnologies, radars and sensors, telecoms and ICT, along with research into materials, propulsion units, and aeronautics.

The push for dual use technologies is part of the agencies overall policy to reinforce the European defence technological and industrial base, along with promoting greater innovation across the defence industry in Europe.

Though traditionally research into defence technologies was completely separate from civilian research and outside the mandate of the EU, Tsiamis admitted that the main drive to look at dual use research has been “economic austerity, with reduction in defence budgets across Europe, and member states seeing R&D as the best candidate for cuts.” He further added, “With defence spending being reduced to reflect the economic situation, another contributing issue has been the need to look how to be more cost efficient with budgets.” Tsiamis also said that “supporting dual use research contributed towards the EU’s goal of achieving smart sustainable economic growth...and creates jobs”.

The EDA has put a particular focus on supporting SMEs, and, according to Tsiamis, the projects the EDA is supporting have “low technology readiness level… they are quite basic, or just approaching a stage where there can have a commercial application”. Apart from SMEs, academia and research institutes have also been involved in researching dual use technologies. A successful example of dual use technology research is the Turtle project in Portugal which has received 60 per cent of its funding, or about €770,000, from the ESF.

Its main aim is to create unmanned marine and robotic systems to look for mines, commercial exploration or fisheries. Though initiated by the defence sector, project manager Augustin Olivier told this magazine that by “including international players not only in defence, but also oil and gas, and deep sea mining, this action allowed us to feel the responsiveness and market potential of the platform”.

The advantage of having both civilian and military partners in the project has allowed it to “obtain materials at lower costs, and to improve the Turtle for quick deployment.” However, Olivier acknowledged that there have been a few initial obstacles to getting civil and military stakeholders to work effectively together. These included “a lack of a common language, combined with a completely different perspective of the mission and vision”.

Vassilis Tsiamis also pointed out that Europe’s regions are also beneficiaries of the solidarity fund. “With different regions having different strengths, some having high concentrations of SMEs, others have strong universities and research centres, while others have high concentrations of different industries such as aeronautics or maritime industries that can successfully access different aspects of the ESF.”

For Tsiamis, with the EDA encouraging more support funded by either the ESF or Horizon 2020, dual use technologies are a “win-win situation that not only supports the security of European citizens but promotes cost efficient spending of taxpayers’ money”.

Parliament Magazine, September 2014